Social Mobility Foundation event 11.08.21

Haworth Tompkins have taken part in a virtual event with The Social Mobility Foundation about COVID and the Built Environment. Several studio members gave presentations on various aspects of our work over the past eighteen months. Nick Royce spoke about HT; our structure and how we use working groups to improve the way we function, design and respond to challenges.

Deeksha Audukoori, Diana Al-laham and Sian Bahia highlighted their differing routes to working at the practice, covering various subjects including school and university projects, applying for jobs and now working remotely. Alex Cox related the practice’s record on reacting to the climate emergency, alongside focusing on three of our in progress projects, and how they have been changed by the pandemic.

Nick and Alex then led two workshops looking at the ways in which we could improve the pandemic resilience of two of our built projects; Silchester and the Bridge Theatre. Students contributed ideas to a live mark-up of a set of drawings considering how the buildings were already suited to various pandemic safety criteria, such as the presence of open spaces and natural ventilation. Improvements were then suggested as to how the buildings could be future proofed, with space for working from home and social distancing measures in place.

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Haworth Tompkins has submitted applications for planning and listed building consent for a phased Masterplan for the Grade I listed De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.

Work has started on site for the new Studio Theatre at the Hexagon, Reading.

HT Associate Directors Hugo Braddick & Ken Okonkwo have been selected as Expert Assessors for the 2025 NLA Awards, in the Industrial & Logistics and Neighbourhoods & Areas cateogries. They, alongside their fellow assessors have been busy for the past couple of weeks reviewing the entries which will be presented to the shortlist jury who will select the final winners, commendations and special prizes, to be announced at the awards ceremony later this year. Run by New London Architecture with support from the Mayor of London, the Awards celebrate the people, places and projects shaping a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous London.

Haworth Tompkins has been shortlisted in three categories at this year's Building Design Architect of the Year Awards. The awards recognise architects for their commitment to providing a high-quality work environment and a consistent body of work rather than one-off projects. We're in the running for three categories; Best Architect Employer, Refurbishment & Reinvention and Higher Education for projects including Pembroke College, The Warburg Institute, Trinity Hall Masterplan, American Repertory Theater, King’s Cross Church and Malmö Stadsteater.

Haworth Tompkins is working with lead architects and masterplanners Maccreanor Lavington alongside Sergison Bates, Architecture Doing Place and East on the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark. The vast 28.5 hectare estate, one of Europe's largest, is being regenerated over a 30-year programme, providing 3500 new homes, of which over 50% will be affordable and prioritised for existing and former Aylesbury Estate residents.

Our appointment, through the Notting Hill Genesis Framework, delivers over 200 homes as part of Phase 2B, alongside a new neighbourhood park, with play areas, landscaping, and spaces for community use. Our plot includes a 25 Storey tower designed to maximise dual aspect homes. 

Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said: “I’m delighted to see these new high-quality, safe, and warm homes given the green light to go ahead on the Aylesbury Estate. It is vital that the estate renewal continues to progress, delivering affordable, decent housing and green spaces for Southwark residents, including existing Aylesbury residents and those on our housing waiting list."

Haworth Tompkins has been appointed by LDA Design to join the team shaping the new St George’s Gateway Framework – a major initiative to reimagine one of Liverpool’s most significant cultural and civic quarters. The project is being delivered in collaboration with Liverpool City Council, Liverpool John Moores University, and National Museums Liverpool, alongside a multidisciplinary team including WSP, Pegasus Group, Hatch, PLACED, and AspinallVerdi.

The framework will guide future development and investment across this vital city centre area, maximising public benefit and enhancing Liverpool’s unique cultural and heritage assets. It builds on recent transformational projects, such as the removal of the Churchill Way Flyovers, and seeks to place high-quality placemaking at the heart of the city’s future growth.

Lucy Picardo, Director at Haworth Tompkins, said: 'We’re delighted to be working with LDA Design and the wider team on such a significant piece of city-making. Liverpool holds a special place for us through our work on the Everyman Theatre, and we’re excited to bring our experience in cultural and heritage-led regeneration to this project. St George’s Gateway is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a truly inclusive and vibrant civic space.'

Following our winning competition submission in summer 2024, Haworth Tompkins has been working closely with London Museum Docklands to explore opportunities at its site on West India Quay in Canary Wharf. London Museum Docklands is housed within a Grade 1 listed Georgian warehouse and is home to the Port & River collection, telling the long history of the capital as a port through stories of trade, enslavement and migration.

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this opportunity. It’s been a pleasure to work together with the team at London Museum Docklands over the last 6 months.” Lucy Picardo - Director, Haworth Tompkins.

Our design of the @sohoplace auditorium is embedded at the heart of the building and is the first new build West End theatre for 50 years. Responding to impresario Nica Burns’ vision for a truly adaptable, intimate 600 seat West End auditorium, Haworth Tompkins, Charcoalblue, Arup and TAIT designed an intense, sumptuous room with multiple possibilities for artists and audiences to explore.

The judges commented that 'one of the project’s highlights is the studio theatre auditorium space designed by Haworth Tompkins and managed by Nica Burns. This intimate space is protected from the cacophony of exhaust air from a Crossrail energy plant and yet the noise reduction measures mean that it is quieter than many of the capital’s grander theatres.

The exquisitely proportioned volume provides accessibility for small productions that would otherwise struggle to secure central London venues. Lobbies and circulation spaces wrap the auditorium box and break with theatre tradition through glass facades that intersect with chrome-clad columns to emit and reflect the theatre of movement into the surrounding streets.